she actually--some of the early landmark civil rights cases in california she funded. and then--and near the end of her life, things became even more bizarre. she was sort of connected to a very wealthy senator from--state senator from california and was taken to court and so it just becomes, you know, this saga. but as a figure, i mean, she's just inspirational and just formidable. c-span: $30, 643 pages for your book. where did you write it? >> guest: wrote it all over the world. i actually--you know, i was in north carolina after i did the initial traveling, i did some there. i went to new york where i had been living for 13 years. c-span: what were you doing in new york? >> guest: well, i taught at columbia and sarah lawrence college. i was for a year at the university--i'm sorry--at the american academy in rome, the rome prize. so that was where the bulk of it was actually completed. and oxford, mississippi, where i was a writer in residence. so i've toted around a lot of papers for a lot of years. c-span: faulkner does come up in your book. he used to live there